LATAM Airlines Group today unveiled its plan to transform the cabins and travel experience of no less than two-thirds of its global fleet with a US$400 million investment. The company will revamp the interior of more than 200 aircraft over the next two years with passengers being able to fly the first renovated aircraft relatively quickly, before the end of 2018.
For passengers travelling on long-haul routes including the US and Europe, LATAM will transform the cabins of its Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft as well as apply the revamped design to new Boeing 787-9s and Airbus A350-1000s due for delivery over the coming years.
The airline opted for a heavily customised Thompson Vantage XL in their Premium cabin, with trim and finish from their existing cabin design partner Priestmangoode. The new Premium Business seat and service focuses on privacy and rest. Every seat will have direct aisle access and has opted for the rarer ‘honeymoon arrangement’ offering seating options for both individuals and couples as well as a fully-flat bed. Each passenger will also enjoy a huge 18” personal screen and have ample space for personal items.
On new aircraft, the new economy cabin will feature ergonomically designed Recaro seats, offering greater comfort, fast-charging USB power ports, larger 12” individual seat-back screens and a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system.
The airline hasn’t opted to add a true premium economy cabin. In a similar move to KLM’s economy comfort seats, passengers in economy will also have the option to upgrade to “LATAM+ Seats”, offering increased space, greater recline and premium services such as priority check-in and boarding.
“As part of LATAM’s long-term vision, the transformation of our cabins will enable us to offer an industry-leading onboard experience with more options, flexibility and personalization to better serve each and every passenger,” said Claudia Sender, Vice President Clients, LATAM Airlines Group. “This means being able to serve leisure passengers who want to ‘travel lighter for less’ at the same time as customers travelling for business who want privacy to both rest and work, in addition to those who wish to be able to upgrade the services that they value the most.”
For passengers travelling on domestic flights and routes within Latin America, LATAM have also announced they will transform the cabins of over 150 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. These will feature Wi-Fi connectivity and greater in-flight entertainment options as well as new ergonomically designed Recaro seats, offering greater comfort and fast-charging USB power ports. The airline has also bought their LATAM+ seats to their short and medium-haul fleet giving passengers across the entire network the opportunity to purchase greater space, dedicated overhead bins and premium services such as priority check-in and boarding.
LATAM spent three years fine-tuning the design of its new cabins – consulting passengers and experts, carrying out seat trials and ergonomic tests as well as 360 evaluations involving customers, cabin crew and LATAM team members. To select its Premium Business seat, the airline group even simulated flights with sleep trials over a two-week period.
TheDesignAir 